History of The National Football League in Los Angeles - Since 1995: Major Developments

Since 1995: Major Developments

Within months of the moves of the Rams and Raiders, several NFL teams were rumored to be replacements. They included the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Seattle Seahawks. However, the Browns moved to become the Baltimore Ravens in 1996 amid major controversy, and a new Browns team occupied a new stadium in 1999. The Bengals, Buccaneers and Seahawks, meanwhile, used L.A.'s vacancy as leverage to convince their cities to help finance new stadiums.

Other developments have included:

• In March 1996, Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behring moved office equipment and some athletic gear to the elementary school in Anaheim that once held Rams practices, hoping to get approval for a permanent move to southern California. Because of an owners' revolt, Behring halted the process and moved the equipment back to Seattle. Eventually, Paul Allen bought the team and kept it in Seattle by building Seahawks Stadium, now known as CenturyLink Field.
• Perhaps the closest Los Angeles has come to regaining the NFL was in 1999, when the NFL approved a new franchise, the league's 32nd, for Los Angeles, on the condition that the city and NFL agree on a stadium site and stadium financing. Those agreements were never reached, and in October 1999, the franchise was awarded to a Houston ownership group instead, which formed the Houston Texans.
• In 2001, a proposal was floated for a new stadium near Staples Center. The stadium and team would have been owned by billionaire Phillip Anschutz and Hollywood scion Casey Wasserman, and the stadium would have been built with private funding. That died down quickly when it failed to get the support of the city council. In particular, Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose district includes the Coliseum, never supported it.
• In 2004, reports circulated that Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay visited Southern California, presumably for meetings with local officials on moving his team to Los Angeles. Irsay never confirmed nor denied those reports, and the Colts later reached a deal for a new stadium in Indianapolis.
• As recently as 2005, then Dodgers owner Frank McCourt showed interest in a similar plan to Peter O'Malley's in which a new NFL stadium would be built in Chavez Ravine next to Dodger Stadium. However, like O'Malley, McCourt was accosted by city officials who expressed their displeasure with his idea in mere part to their favoritism of the repeatedly defunct Coliseum plan. McCourt merely stated that his idea was suitable if the most recent Coliseum plan were to fail. In addition, the NFL was also rumored to favor the Dodger Stadium proposal to the countless Coliseum ideas in the past.
• On November 7, 2006, voters in an upper class part of Pasadena overwhelmingly rejected a financing package that would have allocated money for a renovation of the Rose Bowl that would have accommodated an NFL team in fear of greatly increased traffic. The vote was 72 percent against, versus 28 percent in support. Two days later, the San Francisco 49ers broke off talks with the city of San Francisco on a new stadium at Candlestick Point and began negotiations with suburban Santa Clara, where they hope to build a new stadium to open by 2012. However, many details remained unresolved, and at least one person quoted in an article in the Los Angeles Times said that L.A. could still be a possibility for the 49ers. But the following day, the 49ers reopened talks with San Francisco under pressure from U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (both San Franciscans, the latter also being Member of Congress for most of the city of San Francisco).
• In April 2008, developer Edward P. Roski Jr., a part owner of the Kings and Lakers, proposed a stadium in the City of Industry.
• In June 2008, reports surfaced that the City of Industry could become the home of the 49ers or Raiders by as early as 2010 when both teams' stadium leases expired. Other teams mentioned included San Diego, Minnesota, Jacksonville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Buffalo, and St. Louis.
• On December 1, 2009, in an interview for KTTV (Fox 11), John Semcken of Majestic Realty (the developer for the Los Angeles Stadium in Industry) stated that there was a 50/50 chance of a team returning for the 2010 NFL season and a 100% chance for the 2011 season. The teams explicitly mentioned in the interview were the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, and St. Louis (formerly Los Angeles) Rams. The interview occurred shortly after the California state legislature and the governor approved plans for the stadium, but several months before Stan Kroenke became sole owner of the Rams.
• In mid season of 2011, news regarding several teams involved in potential expansion broke. It was reported that Malcolm Glazer, the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise located in a metropolitan area with some of the lowest attendance figures in multiple pro sports, including football, had talked with officials in L.A. Nothing has been made official yet though, and Glazer also has ties to England (he also owns Manchester United), where there has been a small but growing conversation about potential NFL relocation. Meanwhile, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver sold the team to Shahid Khan; Khan had unsuccessfully attempted to buy the Rams. Khan gave a verbal, but nonbinding, commitment to keep the team in Jacksonville. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis died during the same season, passing the majority ownership of the team to his wife and son. In early 2012, the Davis family acknowledged negotiations with the L.A. groups, but were dissatisfied with both of the proposals and are instead considering sharing the New 49ers Stadium in Santa Clara; Los Angeles remains an option.
• In March 2012, Yahoo! Sports reported on a meeting between the league management and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), in which it became clear that none of the NFL's owners were willing to agree to the terms AEG was putting forth for the relocation of a team to Los Angeles. Neither AEG nor the league confirmed the meeting, which, if true, would jeopardize the project unless AEG were to make concessions. At the same time, the new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers expressed interest in bringing the NFL to Chavez Ravine, current location of Dodger Stadium.
• On April 18, 2012, after a Minnesota Legislature committee rejected a public financing proposal for the proposed new Minnesota Vikings stadium, the league met with Vikings owner Zygi Wilf and Minnesota governor Mark Dayton to discuss the potential sale and relocation of the Vikings franchise. Soon after, Wilf met with Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa regarding the same topic, and indicated he would not renew the Vikings' lease on the Metrodome without a plan for a new stadium. After a re-vote, the Minnesota House passed a stadium financing bill on May 8, albeit with less money than the Vikings were seeking. The Senate passed the bill May 10, at which point the Vikings indicated they would be willing to accept the terms. This effectively eliminated the Vikings from the threat of relocation.
• In September 2012, The Buffalo News reported that the Buffalo Bills had missed a deadline to have their proposed stadium upgrades partially financed by the league, which effectively blocks any efforts to sign a long-term lease and places the future of the team in Buffalo "in jeopardy." The Bills eventually settled on a short-term lease extension (seven to ten years) with the intention of beginning plans for a new stadium near the end of the lease.